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. WW: May 9, 2019Mode(s),Blood is a developed by and published. The version was released for the on March 7, 1997, while the full version was released on May 21, 1997 in North America, and June 20, 1997 in Europe.The game follows the story of Caleb, an undead early 20th century seeking revenge against the dark god. It features a number of and themes.
Blood includes large amounts of, a large arsenal of weapons ranging from the standard to the bizarre, and numerous enemies and bosses.The Blood franchise was continued with two official expansion packs titled (developed by Monolith) and (developed by ). A sequel titled was released on November 25, 1998. The game was released on along with its two expansion packs on April 22, 2010, utilizing the emulator to run on modern systems. It was released on on July 14, 2014.
The game also served as a principal inspiration for the. A remaster of the game made to run better on modern systems entitled Blood: Fresh Supply was released on May 9, 2019. Contents.Gameplay In mode, the player takes the role of Caleb in his quest for revenge against his former master by navigating levels in episodes, looking for an exit, until the level.Blood 's gameplay is similar to other classic FPS games like: the player must activate switches or seek keys to go through the levels; some larger maps contain up to six different keys. Features include teleporters, traps such as crushing blocks, explosive barrels, lava pits, and doors.Blood is one of the earliest FPS games to feature alternate or secondary attack modes for its weapons. Weapons include a, and an aerosol canister that can be used as a flamethrower. It also features a power-up known as 'Guns Akimbo', which allows the player to certain weapons temporarily.
Blood also has 'super secret' areas which contain rewards for discovering them.Enemies include human members of the Cabal and creatures fighting for the dark god. Enemies can use objects in the environment for cover. The game also features a lesser class of enemies (bats, rats, eels, possessed hands, etc.) often referred to as 'nuisance enemies' that are not considered threats individually, but can be deadly in large numbers.Blood, like many FPS games of the time, features modes. When it was released, Internet play was not well established, so Blood used, or connections for multiplayer.
Modem and serial cable connections only allow two player games, while an network connection can support up to eight players. This can easily be achieved on a variety of platforms that support DOSBox and its IPX modes, coupled with software such as. Was also possible via the and.The multiplayer modes consist of, known in Blood as 'Bloodbath', and cooperative play.
Bloodbath matches can be played on specifically designed multiplayer maps or on the levels of the various episodes; the 'frag limit' or 'time limit' options are available to end matches, as well as the possibility to control respawn mode for weapons and power-ups. A feature of Bloodbath is 'The Voice', an audio comment heard upon each frag, that punctuates the death of an opponent often in gory and irreverent terms. 'The Voice' is that of, who was of at the time.
Cooperative gameplay follows the lines of the single player campaign, allowing several players to work together in the levels of the different episodes.Plot Blood takes place in an unspecified time period. The various levels contain elements from the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s, in addition to futuristic and technologies and a theme. Many elements are, including weapons and pop-culture references. The sequel, retroactively dates the game to the year 1928.The backstory is not delineated in the game itself, only on the Monolith website and a text document. The player takes on the role of Caleb, once the supreme commander of a called 'The Cabal', worshipers of the forgotten god. Known as a merciless in, Caleb joined the Cabal in 1871 after meeting Ophelia Price, a woman whose husband and son may have been murdered by the members of the Cabal; it is implied that she later became Caleb's lover.
Together they rose to the highest circle of the dark cult, 'The Chosen', until all four members of The Chosen were betrayed and killed by Tchernobog for unspecified failures. Several years later, Caleb rises from his grave, seeking answers and vengeance.In search of Tchernobog's minion, the Cheogh, Caleb moves to the and station, where he boards the northbound 'Phantom Express'. He fights off the undead which swarm the train, finally stopping the train by blowing up the locomotive. Emerging from the wreckage, cutting through swarms of Cabal loyalists and other creatures, Caleb enters the 'Great Temple'. A teleporter in the temple leads Caleb to Cheogh's altar, where he fights and slays the creature.
BloodGDX (briefly gdxBlood) is a project aimed at porting the original Blood to modern operating systems using the libGDX framework for Java. Created by Alexander 'M210' Makarov, the main developer of the earlier BloodCM, it was first announced on January 9, 2017 and had its first public beta release v0.75 on May 19, 2017. Commander Keen in Keen Dreams Forsaken Remastered Blood: Fresh Supply SiN Gold v1.13 update; Doom 64 (2020 re-release for PC and consoles).
Caleb finishes by lighting up Ophelia's funeral pyre to cremate her body. The player confronts Cerberus (left) and TchernobogCaleb heads to the Arctic north on a large icebound wooden sailing ship. He disembarks at a lumber mill the Cabal has transformed into a crude human remains processing area. He makes his way into a in search of Shial's lair.
Navigating the Cabal infested tunnels, Caleb finds a dark stony cavern where he defeats Shial, crushing her with a stomp of his boot. He then rips out and consumes the heart of the webbed corpse of Gabriel, another of the betrayed Chosen, thus gaining the power of his fallen comrade.is promoted to Tchernobog's second in command. Caleb moves across an industrial facility, entering a nearby control installation located near Cerberus' cavern, then blows up the dam with explosives. The resulting flood makes Cerberus' hideout accessible.
Caleb fills Cerberus' stomach with bundles of and blows up the corpse.Caleb heads for the 'Hall of the Epiphany' where Tchernobog is waiting. There, before facing him, Caleb learns why 'The Chosen' were cast down: Tchernobog knew Caleb would return to him, killing anyone he ran into to take his revenge and thus gaining immense power, something Tchernobog wants for himself.
Caleb battles and destroys the dark god. One of Tchernobog's worshipers approaches Caleb and declares him their new god. Caleb shoots him and leaves the Hall of Epiphany.Expansion packs The first episode of Blood was released as. The full retail version of Blood was released on a CD-ROM, featuring all four original episodes and all of the elements that were missing in the shareware version. The extremely violent content of the game later prompted the release of a censored version of Blood with toned-down violence. Two official were released for the game. Cryptic Passage was developed by and features a new 10 level episode for single player and four new multiplayer levels.
Monolith's official add-on for Blood is called the Plasma Pak and contains 11 new levels, new enemies, and weapons modes. A special edition collection titled One Unit Whole Blood was released on July 15, 1998, including the fully patched versions of Blood, Cryptic Passage, and the Plasma Pak, as well as the Blood: Unlock the Secrets guide in a single package. Strategy guides for the game were also published, namely Blood: The Official Strategy Guide and Blood: Unlock the Secrets.Cryptic Passage Cryptic Passage was published by and is the only officially authorized commercially available add-on for Blood that was not created by Monolith. It was released on June 30, 1997, and contains 10 new single player levels and four new multiplayer Bloodbath levels.In the episode's new story, having heard news of an ancient scroll, Caleb sets out to retrieve it for his own dark needs.Plasma Pak Released in September 1997, the Plasma Pak expansion adds several new features to Blood; a new episode with nine single player levels titled 'Post Mortem' is included, along with two new multiplayer Bloodbath levels, one of which was modeled after Monolith's corporate offices, for a total of 11 levels. New enemies are included in the Plasma Pak, and all of them are featured in the extra episode; the new creatures include two new Cabal loyalist types, Chrysallid pods, miniature Calebs, and a new boss, the Beast. There are no new weapons added to Caleb's arsenal, though some new weapon abilities are introduced; the Tesla Cannon can now be wielded (provided the appropriate power-up is collected), while the Napalm Cannon and Life Leech have new secondary attacks. The Plasma Pak also integrated a large number of bug fixes which had been previously addressed by several patches.
Episode 6: Post Mortem After Caleb learns the Cabal is training replacements for the fallen Chosen, he sets out to stop the cult's plans. Caleb moves into Cabal territory, wreaking havoc in a temple complex, then storming the inner temple. Satisfied the temples have been dealt with, Caleb enters the training ground for 'The Chosen'. In order to rest, Caleb destroys each of the four 'Chosen' in training and the Beasts within them.Development. See also:Development began at Q Studios, an independent developer funded by, in parallel with a number of other well-known titles.
Following the success of, development progress was made public starting in June 1996 with weekly updates on their website. It was originally scheduled for release in early 1997. Q Studios was acquired by in November 1996. On January 22, 1997, a press release announced that all rights had been sold to so that could focus efforts on, another game slated for release the same year.Blood was one of two games (the other being Shadow Warrior) that took advantage of the Build engine's support for objects in the game world.
Blood used this for weapon and ammo pickups, power-ups, and occasionally decorations, such as the in the first level of episode one, 'Cradle to Grave'.The Build engine was enhanced for Blood to allow new lighting effects, real-time shadows, and simulated 'rooms above rooms'.A central feature of Blood is an abundant (and often exaggerated), from which the game derives its name. Enemies can be blown to pieces, and the pieces often rain down on the player. Zombies' heads can be shot off and then kicked around like footballs, spewing fountains of blood. Enemies scream if set on fire or are otherwise injured, making sound an integral part of the violent atmosphere of Blood.
The levels themselves are designed with the same spirit, as corpses, torture victims, and several grotesque situations are witnessed in the game. Collectively, these features caused some public concern about Blood, leading to a censored re-release of the game.In December 2018, announced that Atari commissioned them to create an enhanced version of Blood, which was released in May 2019 under the title Blood: Fresh Supply.
![Blood Fresh Supply Wiki Blood Fresh Supply Wiki](http://www.minecraftmods.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/BasicSigils-625x352.png)
Intellectual property ownership 3D Realms sold Monolith the intellectual property (IP) so 3D Realms could make Shadow Warrior. Monolith sold the publishing rights, but not the IP for Blood and its sequel to GT Interactive.
GTI was later acquired by, which has since been renamed to. Monolith itself was acquired by, which owns the Blood. Atari re-released Blood and Blood 2 on Steam and GOG, but unlike other Build engine games ( Duke Nukem 3D and Shadow Warrior), the source code for Blood has not yet been released.Reception. This section needs expansion. You can help. ( June 2015)ReceptionReview scoresPublicationScore8/10Blood received 'generally favorable' reviews from professional critics, according to website based on seven reviews.
Critics especially praised the intricate and creative level designs, humorous wisecracks and pop culture references, over-the-top gore, variety of settings, and inventive, unconventional weaponry. Particularly noted that the Voodoo doll 'might be the coolest little accessory to ever grace the weapons belt of a first-person killing machine.' A few criticisms were voiced about the game, but did not find consensus among reviewers. For example, while GameSpot said the game 'is just too damn hard', citing how quickly enemies can deal damage, asserted that 'The game is lengthy without being too tedious, and challenging without being too difficult.'
Followed up its own criticisms by concluding, ' Blood 's flaws are easily swept aside when your guns start blasting and the bodies start falling.' GamingOnLinux reviewer Hamish Paul Wilson decided in a 2015 retrospective that Blood was easily the best of the three major Build engine games, stating that Blood was 'one of the most underrated shooters of the whole decade. Blood arguably built more on the legacy of Duke Nukem 3D than Shadow Warrior did, taking its gameplay to sophisticated new heights and offering its referential overtones with an even greater degree of refinement.'
Player Attack described Blood in a 2011 article as 'the best of the Build engine games after Duke Nukem 3D, with its combination of scary atmosphere, great level design and challenging gameplay putting it above the rest.' References. Hamrick, Lee (March 7, 1997). Archived from on August 24, 2000.
Retrieved December 5, 2019. May 21, 1997.
Archived from on February 18, 1998. Retrieved December 5, 2019. ^, Plasma Pak article at GiantBomb.com. Steam. ^ 'Blood'. February 1997.
![Supply Supply](/uploads/1/2/5/6/125691953/406079812.png)
July 10, 2008. Archived from on October 14, 2012. Retrieved January 16, 2013.
^ Chalk, Andy (December 7, 2018). Retrieved September 22, 2019., Rights to Blood sold To Monolith. 'NG Alphas: Blood'. P. 62.
Campbell, Colin (December 7, 2018). Archived from on June 17, 2012. Retrieved June 22, 2012. ^ Poole, Stephen (June 6, 1997). Retrieved June 6, 2019. ^ 'Finals'.
September 1997. P. 134, 136. Retrieved May 14, 2019. ^ Major Mike (July 1997). 'PC GamePro Review: Blood'.
Pp. 72–73. Wilson, Hamish (June 23, 2015).
Retrieved June 23, 2015. Matt, Keller (June 16, 2011). Player Attack. Retrieved February 17, 2017.External links Wikiquote has quotations related to:. (limited content). at the (archived February 27, 2009). at.
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Florida box turtle ( )Kingdom:Phylum:Class:Clade:Order:, 1788Subgroups†Blue: sea turtles, black: land turtlesTurtles are of the Testudines characterized by a special or developed from their and acting as a. 'Turtle' may refer to the order as a whole (American English) or to fresh-water and sea-dwelling testudines (British English).
The order Testudines includes both extant (living) and species. The earliest known members of this group date from the, making turtles one of the oldest reptile groups and a more ancient group than. Of the 356 known alive today, some are highly.Turtles are —animals commonly called —meaning that their internal temperature varies according to the ambient environment. However, because of their high metabolic rate, have a body temperature that is noticeably higher than that of the surrounding water. Turtles are classified as, along with other reptiles, birds, and mammals. Like other amniotes, turtles breathe air and do not lay eggs underwater, although many species live in or around water. This image from shows the cervical vertebrae of a as seen ventrally.
The vertebrae have an S-shaped curve to allow for neck retraction into the shell.The largest living chelonian is the leatherback sea turtle ( ), which reaches a shell length of 200 cm (6.6 ft) and can reach a weight of over 900 kg (2,000 lb). Freshwater turtles are generally smaller, but with the largest species, the Asian softshell turtle, a few individuals have been reported up to 200 cm (6.6 ft). This dwarfs even the better-known, the largest chelonian in North America, which attains a shell length of up to 80 cm (2.6 ft) and weighs as much as 113.4 kg (250 lb).Giant tortoises of the genera, and others were relatively widely distributed around the world into prehistoric times, and are known to have existed in North and South America, Australia, and Africa. They became extinct at the same time as the appearance of man, and it is assumed humans hunted them for food. The only surviving giant tortoises are on the and and can grow to over 130 cm (51 in) in length, and weigh about 300 kg (660 lb).The largest ever chelonian was, a sea turtle known to have been up to 4.6 m (15 ft) long.The smallest turtle is the of South Africa. It measures no more than 8 cm (3.1 in) in length and weighs about 140 g (4.9 oz).
Two other species of small turtles are the American and that live in an area that ranges from to. The shell length of many species in this group is less than 13 cm (5.1 in) in length.Neck retraction. Retract their neck backwardsTurtles are divided into two groups, according to how they retract their necks into their shells (something the ancestral could not do). The mechanism of neck retraction differs phylogenetically: the suborder retracts laterally to the side, anterior to shoulder girdles, while the suborder retracts straight back, between shoulder girdles. These motions are largely due to the morphology and arrangement of. Of all recent turtles, the cervical column consists of nine joints and eight vertebrae, which are individually independent.
Since these vertebrae are not fused and are rounded, the neck is more flexible, being able to bend in the backwards and sideways directions. The primary function and evolutionary implication of neck retraction is thought to be for feeding rather than protection. Neck retraction and reciprocal extension allows the turtle to reach out further to capture prey while swimming. Neck expansion creates suction when the head is thrust forward and the oropharynx is expanded, and this morphology suggests the retraction function is for feeding purposes as the suction helps catch prey.
The protection the shell provides the head when it is retracted is therefore not the main function of retraction, thus is an. As for the difference between the two methods of retraction, both and use the quick extension of the neck as a method of predation, so the difference in retraction mechanism is not due to a difference in. HeadMost turtles that spend most of their lives on land have their eyes looking down at objects in front of them.
Some aquatic turtles, such as snapping turtles and soft-shelled turtles, have eyes closer to the top of the head. These species of turtle can hide from predators in shallow water, where they lie entirely submerged except for their eyes and nostrils.
Near their eyes, sea turtles possess glands that produce salty tears that rid their body of excess taken in from the water they drink.Turtles have rigid beaks and use their to cut and chew food. Instead of having teeth, which they appear to have lost about 150–200 million years ago, the upper and lower jaws of the turtle are covered by horny ridges. Carnivorous turtles usually have knife-sharp ridges for slicing through their prey. Herbivorous turtles have serrated-edged ridges that help them cut through tough plants. They use their tongues to swallow food, but unlike most reptiles, they cannot stick out their tongues to catch food.Shell. Main article:The upper shell of the turtle is called the.
The lower shell that encases the belly is called the. The carapace and plastron are joined together on the turtle's sides by bony structures called bridges.
The inner layer of a turtle's shell is made up of about 60 bones that include portions of the backbone and the ribs, meaning the turtle cannot crawl out of its shell. In most turtles, the outer layer of the shell is covered by horny scales called that are part of its outer skin,. Scutes are made up of the fibrous that also makes up the scales of other reptiles. These scutes overlap the seams between the shell bones and add strength to the shell. Some turtles do not have horny scutes; for example, the and the have shells covered with leathery skin instead.The shape of the shell gives helpful clues about how a turtle lives. Most tortoises have a large, dome-shaped shell that makes it difficult for predators to crush the shell between their jaws. One of the few exceptions is the African, which has a flat, flexible shell that allows it to hide in rock crevices.
Most aquatic turtles have flat, streamlined shells, which aid in swimming and diving. American and have small, cross-shaped plastrons that give them more efficient leg movement for walking along the bottom of ponds and streams. Another exception is the Belawan Turtle (Cirebon, West Java), which has sunken-back soft-shell.The color of a turtle's shell may vary. Shells are commonly colored brown, black, or olive green.
In some species, shells may have red, orange, yellow, or grey markings, often spots, lines, or irregular blotches. One of the most colorful turtles is the eastern, which includes a yellow plastron and a black or olive shell with red markings around the rim.Tortoises, being land-based, have rather heavy shells. In contrast, aquatic and soft-shelled turtles have lighter shells that help them avoid sinking in water and swim faster with more agility. These lighter shells have large spaces called between the shell bones.
The shells of leatherback sea turtles are extremely light because they lack scutes and contain many fontanelles.It has been suggested by Jackson (2002) that the turtle shell can function as pH buffer. To endure through anoxic conditions, such as winter periods trapped beneath ice or within anoxic mud at the bottom of ponds, turtles utilize two general physiological mechanisms. In the case of prolonged periods of anoxia, it has been shown that the turtle shell both releases carbonate buffers and uptakes lactic acid. RespirationRespiration, for many, is achieved by the contraction and relaxation of specific muscle groups (i.e. Intercostals, abdominal muscles, and/or a diaphragm) attached to an internal rib-cage that can expand or contract the body wall thus assisting airflow in and out of the lungs. The ribs of, however, are fused with their and external to their pelvic and pectoral girdles, a feature unique among turtles. This rigid shell is not capable of expansion, and by rendering their rib-cage immobile, have had to evolve special adaptations for respiration.Turtle pulmonary ventilation occurs by using specific groups of abdominal muscles attached to their viscera and shell that pull the lungs ventrally during inspiration, where air is drawn in via a negative pressure gradient.
In expiration, the contraction of the transversus abdominis is the driving force by propelling the viscera into the lungs and expelling air under positive pressure. Conversely, the relaxing and flattening of the oblique abdominis muscle pulls the transversus back down which, once again, draws air back into the lungs. Important auxiliary muscles used for ventilatory processes are the pectoralis, which is used in conjunction with the transverse abdominis during inspiration, and the serratus, which moves with the abdominal oblique accompanying expiration.The lungs of are multi-chambered and attached their entire length down the. The number of chambers can vary between, though most commonly they have three lateral chambers, three medial chambers, and one terminal chamber.
As previously mentioned, the act of specific abdominal muscles pulling down the viscera (or pushing back up) is what allows for respiration in turtles. Specifically, it is the turtles large liver that pulls or pushes on the lungs. Ventral to the lungs, in the coelomic cavity, the liver of turtles is attached directly to the right lung, and their stomach is directly attached to the left lung by the ventral mesopneumonium, which is attached to their liver by the ventral mesentery. When the liver is pulled down, inspiration begins. Supporting the lungs is the post-pulmonary septum, which is found in all, and is thought to prevent the lungs from collapsing.
Skin and molting. Tail of aAs mentioned above, the outer layer of the shell is part of the skin; each scute (or plate) on the shell corresponds to a single modified scale. The remainder of the skin has much smaller scales, similar to the skin of other reptiles. Turtles do not molt their skins all at once as snakes do, but continuously in small pieces. When turtles are kept in aquaria, small sheets of dead skin can be seen in the water (often appearing to be a thin piece of plastic) having been sloughed off when the animals deliberately rub themselves against a piece of wood or stone.
Tortoises also shed skin, but dead skin is allowed to accumulate into thick knobs and plates that provide protection to parts of the body outside the shell.By counting the rings formed by the stack of smaller, older scutes on top of the larger, newer ones, it is possible to estimate the age of a turtle, if one knows how many scutes are produced in a year. This method is not very accurate, partly because growth rate is not constant, but also because some of the scutes eventually fall away from the shell.LimbsTerrestrial tortoises have short, sturdy feet. Tortoises are famous for moving slowly, in part because of their heavy, cumbersome shells, which restrict stride length.
Skeleton of snapping turtle ( Chelydra serpentina)Amphibious turtles normally have limbs similar to those of tortoises, except that the feet are webbed and often have long. These turtles swim using all four feet in a way similar to the, with the feet on the left and right side of the body alternately providing thrust. Large turtles tend to swim less than smaller ones, and the very big species, such as alligator snapping turtles, hardly swim at all, preferring to walk along the bottom of the river or lake. As well as webbed feet, turtles have very long claws, used to help them clamber onto riverbanks and floating logs upon which they. Male turtles tend to have particularly long claws, and these appear to be used to stimulate the female while mating. While most turtles have webbed feet, some, such as the, have true flippers, with the digits being fused into paddles and the claws being relatively small. These species swim in the same way as sea turtles do (see below).Sea turtles are almost entirely aquatic and have instead of feet.
Sea turtles fly through the water, using the up-and-down motion of the front flippers to generate thrust; the back feet are not used for propulsion but may be used as for steering. Compared with freshwater turtles, sea turtles have very limited mobility on land, and apart from the dash from the nest to the sea as hatchlings, male sea turtles normally never leave the sea. Females must come back onto land to lay eggs. They move very slowly and laboriously, dragging themselves forwards with their flippers.Behavior SensesTurtles are thought to have exceptional night vision due to the unusually large number of in their retinas. Turtles have color vision with a wealth of cone subtypes with sensitivities ranging from the near ultraviolet (UVA) to red. Some land turtles have very poor abilities, which are normally found only in predators that hunt quick-moving prey, but carnivorous turtles are able to move their heads quickly to snap.Communication.
See also:It has been reported that wood turtles are better than at learning to navigate mazes. Case studies exist of turtles playing.
They do, however, have a very low (relative brain to body mass), and their hard shells enable them to live without fast reflexes or elaborate predator avoidance strategies.In the laboratory, turtles ( Pseudemys nelsoni) can learn novel operant tasks and have demonstrated a long-term memory of at least 7.5 months. Similarly, giant tortoises can learn and remember tasks, and master lessons much faster when trained in groups. Remarkably, tortoises that were tested 9 years after the initial training still retained the operant conditioning. An example of mounting behavior in turtlesTurtles are known for displaying a wide variety of mating behaviors, however, they are not known for forming or for being part of a social group.
Once has occurred and an offspring has been produced, neither parent will provide care for the offspring once it's hatched. Females generally outnumber males in various turtle species (such as ), and as a result, most males will engage in multiple copulation with multiple partners throughout their lifespan. However, due to the present in most turtle species, males must develop different courting strategies or use alternate methods to gain access to a potential mate. Most terrestrial species have males that are larger than females, and fighting between males often determines a hierarchical order in which the higher up the order an individual is, the better the chance is of the individual getting access to a potential mate. For most semi-aquatic species and bottom-walking aquatic species, combat occurs less often. Males belonging to semi-aquatic and bottom-walking species instead often use their larger size advantage to forcibly mate with a female.
In fully aquatic species, males are often smaller than females and therefore they cannot use the same strategy as their semi-aquatic relatives, which relies on overpowering the females with strength. Males in this category resort to using in an attempt to gain mating access to a female. Male competition. Saddle back Galapagos tortoiseare an example of a terrestrial species where the males have a hierarchical ranking system based on dominance through fighting, and it's shown that the males with the highest rank and thus the most wins in fights have the most offspring.are another example of a species which has a hierarchical rank that is determined by dominance displays, and access to food and mates is regulated by this dominance hierarchy.
Two male saddle backs most often compete for access to cactus trees, which is their source of food. The winner is the individual who stretches their neck the highest, and that individual gets access to the cactus tree, which can attract potential mates.
Force mating. Male (left) and female (right) radiated tortoiseThe male is an example of a bottom-walking aquatic species that relies on overpowering females with its larger size as a mating strategy. The male approaches the female from the rear, and often resorts to aggressive methods such as biting the female's tail or hind limbs, followed by a mounting behavior in which the male clasps the edges of her with his forelimbs and hind limbs to hold her in position.
The male follows this action by laterally waving his head and sometimes biting the female's head in an attempt to get her to withdraw her head into her shell. This exposes her, and with it exposed, the male can attempt copulation by trying to insert his grasping tail.Male are also known to use the force mating strategy wherein they use surrounding vegetation to trap or prevent females from escaping, then pin them down for copulation. Courtship displaysare an example of a fully aquatic species in which the male performs a courtship behavior. In this case the male extends his forelegs with the palms facing out and flutters his forelegs in the female's face. Female choice is important in this method, and the females of some species, such as, aren't always receptive. As such, they've evolved certain behaviors to avoid the male's attempts at copulation, such as swimming away, confronting the male followed by biting, or a refusal position in which the female assumes a vertical position with her limbs widely outspread and her facing the male. If the water is too shallow to perform the refusal position, the females will resort to beaching themselves, which is a proven deterrent method, as the males will not follow them ashore.
Ecology and life history. Sea turtle swimmingAlthough many turtles spend large amounts of their lives underwater, all turtles and tortoises breathe air and must surface at regular intervals to refill their lungs.
They can also spend much or all of their lives on dry land. Aquatic respiration in freshwater turtles is currently being studied. Some species have large cavities that are lined with many finger-like projections. These projections, called, have a rich blood supply and increase the surface area of the cloaca. The turtles can take up dissolved from the water using these papillae, in much the same way that fish use to respire.Like other, turtles lay that are slightly soft and leathery. The eggs of the largest species are spherical while the eggs of the rest are elongated.
Their albumen is white and contains a different protein from bird eggs, such that it will not coagulate when cooked. Turtle eggs prepared to eat consist mainly of yolk. In some species,: a higher temperature causes a female, a lower temperature causes a male. Large numbers of eggs are deposited in holes dug into mud or sand.
They are then covered and left to incubate by themselves. Depending on the species, the eggs will typically take 70–120 days to hatch.
When the turtles hatch, they squirm their way to the surface and head toward the water. There are no known species in which the mother cares for her young.Sea turtles lay their eggs on dry, sandy beaches. Immature sea turtles are not cared for by the adults. Turtles can take many years to reach breeding age, and in many cases, breed every few years rather than annually.Researchers have recently discovered a turtle's organs or become less efficient over time, unlike most other animals. It was found that the liver, lungs, and kidneys of a centenarian turtle are virtually indistinguishable from those of its immature counterpart.
This has inspired genetic researchers to begin examining the turtle genome for longevity genes.A group of turtles is known as a bale. A grazing on seagrassA turtle's diet varies greatly depending on the environment in which it lives. Adult turtles typically eat; invertebrates such as, and; and have been reported to occasionally eat dead. Several small freshwater species are carnivorous, eating small fish and a wide range of aquatic life.
However, protein is essential to turtle growth and juvenile turtles are purely carnivorous.typically feed on, and other soft-bodied organisms. Some species with stronger jaws have been observed to eat, while others, such as the, do not eat meat at all and, instead, have a diet largely made up of. Systematics and evolution.
Sea turtle at Henry Doorly Zoo, Omaha NE. Family † Baur, 1895. Family Oppel, 1811 (green sea turtles and relatives). Family †Thalassemydidae. Family Fitzinger, 1843 (leatherback sea turtles).
Family † Cope, 1872. Clade †. Family † Cope, 1868. Family †Compsemyidae. Family † Cope, 1882Fossil recordTurtle fossils of hatchling and nestling size have been documented in the. Paleontologists from have found the fossilized remains of the world's largest turtle in a coal mine in Colombia.
The specimen named as is around 60 million years old and nearly 2.4 m (8 ft) long.On a few rare occasions, paleontologists have succeeded in unearthing large numbers of or turtle skeletons accumulated in a single area (the in Mongolia, the Turtle Graveyard in, or the Black Mountain Turtle Layer in ). The most spectacular find of this kind to date occurred in 2009 in in, where over a thousand ancient freshwater turtles apparently died after the last water hole in an area dried out during a major drought.Though absent from in recent times, turtle fossils are known from the, represented by a. GenomicsTurtles possess diverse chromosome numbers (2n = 28–66) and a myriad of chromosomal rearrangements have occurred during evolution. In human culture As pets. In this 1807 political cartoon, a turtle is used to represent Jefferson's.Some turtles, particularly small terrestrial and freshwater turtles, are kept as. Among the most popular are, and.In the United States, due to the ease of contracting through casual contact with turtles, the (FDA) established a regulation in 1975 to discontinue the sale of turtles under 4 in (100 mm). It is supposed to be illegal in every US state for anyone to sell any turtles under 4 inches (10 cm) long, but many stores and flea markets still sell small turtles due to a loophole in the FDA regulation which allows turtles under 4 in (100 mm) to be sold for educational purposes.Some states have other laws and regulations regarding possession of as pets because they are looked upon as or pests where they are not native, but have been introduced through the pet trade.
As of July 1, 2007, it is illegal in Florida to sell any wild type red-eared slider. Unusual color varieties such as albino and pastel red-eared sliders, which are derived from captive breeding, are still allowed for sale in that state.In Europe, turtle and tortoise keeping became popular in the 1960s and 1970s, when large numbers of wild-caught turtles and tortoises were imported. This was especially devastating to the Mediterranean tortoise population. In the 1980s the import of wild-caught tortoises started to be banned in various countries. Most turtles and tortoises for sale in Europe today are captive-bred.Turtles and tortoises are seen by some people as cheap pets that need little care. The complexity and expense of proper turtle and tortoise husbandry is often underestimated. Most species of tortoise need a spacious outdoor enclosure with areas at different temperatures so they can They also need opportunities to climb, dig and forage.
Most species of tortoise should be fed dark, leafy greens with calcium and vitamin supplements.Turtles require a large tub or aquarium with land areas where they can dry off completely and other areas where they can rest near the water's surface, on a piece of submerged driftwood for example. Like tortoises, turtles need access to UVB lighting and a varied diet rich in calcium.As food, traditional medicine, and cosmetics. Left: The window of a restaurant serving, decorated with a ('turtle') characterRight: Turtle among other plants and animals parts are used in traditional Chinese medicines. (Other items in the image are dried, snake, and )The flesh of turtles, calipash or calipee, was and still is considered a delicacy in a number of cultures. Has been a prized dish in Anglo-American cuisine, and still remains so in some parts of Asia.
stew was popular with some groups in Florida.Turtles remain a part of the traditional diet on the island of, so much so that when wild stocks became depleted, a was established specifically to raise for their meat. The farm also releases specimens to the wild as part of an effort to repopulate the Caribbean Sea.Fat from turtles is also used in and in as a main ingredient in cosmetics, marketed under its Spanish name crema de tortuga.Turtle (the part of the shell that covers a tortoise from the bottom) are widely used in; according to statistics, imports hundreds of tons of plastrons every year. A popular medicinal preparation based on powdered turtle plastron (and a variety of herbs) is the jelly; these days, though, it is typically made with only herbal ingredients.Conservation statusIn February 2011, the Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group published a report about the top 25 species of turtles most likely to become extinct, with a further 40 species at very high risk of becoming extinct. This list excludes sea turtles, however, both the and the would make the top 25 list. The report is due to be updated in four years time allowing to follow the evolution of the list. Between 48 and 54% of all 328 of their species considered threatened, turtles and tortoises are at a much higher risk of extinction than many other vertebrates. Of the 263 species of freshwater and terrestrial turtles, 117 species are considered Threatened, 73 are either Endangered or Critically Endangered and 1 is Extinct.
Of the 58 species belonging to the family Testudinidae, 33 species are Threatened, 18 are either Endangered or Critically Endangered, 1 is Extinct in the wild and 7 species are Extinct. 71% of all tortoise species are either gone or almost gone. Asian species are the most endangered, closely followed by the five endemic species from Madagascar. Turtles face many threats, including habitat destruction, harvesting for consumption, and the pet trade. The high extinction risk for Asian species is primarily due to the long-term unsustainable exploitation of turtles and tortoises for consumption and traditional Chinese medicine, and to a lesser extent for the international pet trade.Efforts have been made by Chinese entrepreneurs to satisfy increasing demand for turtle meat as gourmet food and traditional medicine with farmed turtles, instead of wild-caught ones; according to a study published in 2007, over a thousand turtle farms operated in China. Turtle farms in and raise turtles for export to China.
Turtles on tree branch over a lake in.Nonetheless, wild turtles continue to be caught and sent to market in large number (as well as to turtle farms, to be used as breeding stock ), resulting in a situation described by conservationists as 'the Asian turtle crisis'. In the words of the biologist George Amato, 'the amount and the volume of captured turtles.
Vacuumed up entire species from areas in Southeast Asia', even as biologists still did not know how many distinct turtle species live in the region. About 75% of Asia's 90 tortoise and freshwater turtle species are estimated to have become threatened.Harvesting wild turtles is legal in a number of states in the USA. In one of these states, just a single seafood company in was reported in 2008 as buying about 5,000 pounds of a week. The harvesters (hunters) are paid about $2 a pound; some manage to catch as many as 30–40 turtles (500 pounds) on a good day. Some of the catch gets to the local restaurants, while most of it is exported to Asia. The estimated in 2008 that around 3,000 pounds of softshell turtles were exported each week via.Nonetheless, the great majority of turtles exported from the USA are farm raised. According to one estimate by the World Chelonian Trust, about 97% of 31.8 million animals harvested in the U.S.
Over a three-year period (November 4, 2002 – November 26, 2005) were exported. It has been estimated (presumably, over the same 2002–2005 period) that about 47% of the US turtle exports go to (predominantly to ), another 20% to, and 11% to.TurtleSAt is a smartphone app that has been developed in Australia in honor of to help in the conservation of fresh water turtles in Australia. The app will allow the user to identify turtles with a picture guide and the location of turtles using the phones GPS to record sightings and help find hidden turtle nesting grounds. The app has been developed because there has been a high per cent of decline of fresh water turtles in Australia due to foxes, droughts, and urban development.
The aim of the app is to reduce the number of foxes and help with targeting feral animal control.' S program, which has killed roughly 50,000 sharks since 1962, has also killed thousands of turtles as. Over 5,000 marine turtles have been killed in Queensland's 'shark control' program (which uses and ).
The program has also killed 719 and 33 (hawksbill turtles are critically endangered). Has a 'shark control' program which has killed many turtles: its program uses, in which more than 5,000 marine turtles have been caught. See also.Notes.
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